Negotiating a new cultural space : aspects of fantasy in contempory South African youth literature, with specific reference to because Pula means rain by Jenny Robson

Abstract:

This article will examine how contemporary South African authors are using fantasy in
literature for adolescents as a site for postcolonial endeavour, with reference to Because
pula means rain (2000) by Jenny Robson. Discussing how texts for adolescents can
be used as “bibliotherapy”, and how authors writing for adolescents must be aware
of the dangers of the “top-down” power hierarchy inherent in any text written for a
younger audience, this article examines how these texts have become interesting sites
for postcolonial critique. In Because pula means rain, the narrative is woven around
young Emmanuel’s quest to belong in his local community. Emmanuel, a young boy
with albinism, is ostracised from his black community because of the ‘whiteness’ of his
skin. Emmanuel is thus an interesting site of double othering – he is neither black nor
white, but is stuck in an ‘in-between’ liminal place of double negation. It is from this
place of ostracism that he begins his journey, and through it Robson opens up a space for
counter-hegemonic discourse. This article will examine how Because pula means rain
successfully makes use of liminal fantasy as a subversive technique, to interrogate a new
space for Emmanuel to investigate his own identity.